Truck for moving heavy loads.



No. 796,795. I PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

- G. BENISGH.

TRUCK FOR MOVING HEAVY LOADS.

APPLIOA'IYION FILED rnn.4,19o5.

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TRUCK FOR MOVING HEAVY LOADS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application filed February 4, 1905- Serial No. 2%,13'7.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GUsrAv BENISOH, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing in New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trucks for MovingHeavy Loads, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in trucks for moving heavy loads,such as granite or marble blocks and the like, without requiring a largenumber of teams, which heretofore were necessary for moving such loadsfrom the landing-pier or other point to the place of use, and by whichthe truck is enabled to pass with the load arcund angles of the roadwithout requiring a special tackle arrangement for this purpose; and theinvention relates more specifically to an attachment for the truck bywhich the same can be started and moved over steep grades on the roadwith great facility; and for this purpose the invention consists of atruck which is provided at its front part with a Windlass, a cam-shaftoperated by intermediate gearing from the drum shaft of the Windlass,ratchet-wheels attached to one of the rear wheels of the truck, andconnecting-rods between the cam-shaft and the ratchet-wheels, saidconnecting-rods being provided with pawls at the ends for engaging saidratchet-wheels.

The invention consists, further, of a changegear between the Windlassand the cam-shaft for changing the speed imparted to the starting andmoving devices; and the invention consists, lastly, of certain detailsofconstruction and combinations of parts, which will be fully describedhereinafter and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of myimproved truck for moving heavy loads, and Fig. 2 is a rear elevation ofthe same.

, Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the body of my improved truckfor moving heavy loads. B represents the front wheels and C the rearwheel of the same. Between the body A and the axle of the front wheelsare interposed the supporting-springs and the usual fifth-wheel, whilebetween the axle and the rear part of the truck are interposed bolstersB of the construction such as are used in trucks for moving heavy loads.At the front end of the wagon-body A is arranged a Windlass W, of anyapproved construction, which may be driven by means of hand-cranksapplied to the shafts d d of the transmittinggears (Z (Z (Z (Z by whichrotary motion is imparted to the drum-shaft S.

From the drum-shaft S of the Windlass W rotary motion is transmitted bymeans of intermediate gearing g g g to a cam-shaft D, which is supportedinsuitable bearings on the front end of the truck at one side of thewindlass. To the cam-shaft D are keyed two eccentrics E E, which arearranged in diametrically opposite direction to each other on the squareend of the shaft. To the eccentrics E E are strapped two connecting-rodsF F, which are provided at their ends with pawls ff and at intermediatepoints with turnbuckles f, by which the length of each connecting-rodcan be readily adjusted, so as to engage the teeth of two ratchet-wheels7*, that are attached to the inner side of one of the rear wheels 0, thepawl of one connecting-rod engaging the teeth of one of theratchet-wheels and the pawl of the other rod the adjacent.ratchet-wheel.

WVhen the drum-shaft of the Windlass is r0- tated by hand or otherwise,the cam-shaft is revolved by the intermediate gearing, so thatalternately each connecting-rod is moved by its eccentric in forwarddirection, and as the pawls at the ends of the connecting-rods F Fengage the ratchet-wheels rr the rear wheels are turned and the loadmoved in forward direction. WVhile one connecting-rod is moved forward,the other is moved backward, so as to engage with the next adjacenttooth of its ratchet-wheel while the other connecting-rod is pulling theload by its action on its ratchetwheel, so that there is no chance forthe load to slip backwardl When great traction is desired, the cam-shaftD is continued transversely across to the other side of the windlass andconnected with it by a similar attachment, consisting of eccentrics,connectingrods, and ratchet-wheels on the opposite rear wheel.

For obtaining different speeds the gearwheel 9 and the auxiliarygear-wheel g are splined to the end of the drum-shaft, the gearwheel 9being smaller and the gear-wheel 9 being larger.' By shifting the gearsg 9 so that the small one, intermeshes with the gear-Wheel g or thelarger one, g with the gear-Wheel g on the cam-shaft D the speed of thecam-shaft can be changed according to the proportion between the teethof the transmitting-gears.

On the drum-shaft S is placed a drum D and a winch-head D, which is castin halves and bolted together over drum D, one end of said winch-headbeing bolted to the flange of the drum. Owing to the difference ofdiameter between the drum and winch-head, the leverage on the rear wheelor wheels is correspondingly changed, according as the starting-rope ispassed around the drum or the winch-head. By means of the sliding gearsg g and the drum and winch-head four difierent speed-changes areobtained,and if it should be desired to further increase the number ofspeeds the eccentrics E E may be removed from shaft D and othereccentrics slid on the same of different degrees of eccentricity, sothat four, eight, twelve, sixteen, 850., different speeds may beobtained, as desired.

When the truck is to be started, the starting is assisted by placing thecranks on opposite sides of the windlass-shaft and turning the same, sothat through the gear-wheels and transmitting devices the rear wheels ofthe truck are rotated, or motion may be transmitted directly to thedrum-shaft S by placing a coil of rope on the body or deck A of thetruck near the windlass and passing one end of the rope several timesaround the drum or winch-head, after which this end of the rope isattached to a pair of whifiietrees drawn by a team of horses. As thehorses pull on the rope the operator on the truck pays out the same andthe friction of the rope on the drum or windlass turns the drum-shaft,so that the same by the intermediate transmitting mechanism operates theconnecting-rods and turns the rear wheels. The team pulls therebystraight ahead in the same direction as the truck. By extending the ropearound the winch-head and over the body or deck the backward pulling ofthe team on the rope produces likewise the forward motion of the truckby the attachment described. The team may pull at an angle to thedirection of motion of the truck by means of a snatch-block fastened tothe deck of the truck. When power is available, a motor can be used fordriving the drum-shaft by which the use of horses may be dispensed with.Backward movement of the drum and gears is prevented by apawl-and-ratchet mechanism (1 (Z for locking the shaft (1.

The advantages of my improved truck for moving heavy loads are asfollows? First. Ordinarily when it is desired to move a heavy load overa short distance the truck often requires ten teams on the level partsof the road and as many as twenty teams on Steep grades, While five orsix teams are required on a very hard road with a slight downgrade. Bythe use of the improved starting and moving attachment the load can bedrawn at all times with a single team at different speeds, according tothe grade and nature of the ground. A considerable saving in men andteams is thereby obtained.

Second. In case a heavy load is to be moved over a greater distance theentire load is pulled by means of teams and without leverage, in whichcase the attachment is used only as an auxiliary for starting the truck.By this means instead of using twenty teams for pulling the load thetruck can be drawn with ten teams, in addition to an extra team sentalong to start the load, or if this should not be desired the load canbe started by hand by means of the crank-shafts of the windlass, for thereason that it requires much more power to start the load and get theteams to pull than to keep the load moving.

Third. In some cases it is necessary to draw heavy loads around sharpcurves and at the same time over steep grades. In this case it isimpossible to hitch enough teams to the truck to pull the load, as it isimpossible to turn in the road with the same. In such cases the truck ismoved solely by the attachment, being warped by the rope, so to say,around the curve or over the steep portion of the road.

By the attachment the load is moved slowly a over the ground, so as toeliminate dangerous vibration. The absence of vibration while moving theload permits the use of a truck without springs, while lasting muchlonger, as the wear and tear on the truck is greatly diminished.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a truck for moving heavy loads, the combinationwith a truck-body, of a windlass supported on the same, a cam-shaft,intermediate gearing between the windlass and camshaft for rotating thelatter, eccentrics on the cam-shaft, ratchet-wheels attached to the rearwheel of the truck, and connecting-rods having pawls at their rear endsinterposed between the eccentrics and the ratchet-wheels.

2. In a truck for moving heavy loads, the combination, with atruck-body, of a windlass supported at the front end of the same, meansfor operating the windlass, a cam-shaft supported on the truck-body,intermediate gearing between the windlass and the cam-shaft, eccentricson the cam-shaft, connecting-rods strapped to said eccentrics andprovided with pawls on their opposite ends, and ratchetwheels on one ofthe rear wheels of the truck engaged by the pawls on the rear ends ofthe connecting-rods for starting and moving the load.

3. In a truck for moving heavy loads, the combination, with thetruck-body, of a windlass at the front end of the same, means foractuating said windlass, a cam-shaft, an intermediate change-gearbetween the windlass and cam-shaft, eccentrics on the cam-shaft, a

shaft and cam-shaft, eccentrics on the camshaft, ratchet-wheels on oneof the rear wheels, and connectingrods having pawls at their rear endsfor engaging the ratchet-wheels.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GUSTAV BENISCH.

Witnesses:

PAUL GOEPEL, HENRY J. SUHRBIER.

